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34416 | Rocker Ted Nugent evaded the draft in the 1960s by taking drugs and acting crazy. | So, Ted Nugent did have a student deferment for part of the time he was eligible for the Vietnam-era draft, but he also did fail a physical examination and receive a medical exemption (which, as far as we know, he has neither acknowledged nor explained). But in the absence of more specific information about the results... | unproven | Uncategorized, ted nugent | If various rock ‘n’ roll memoirs are to be believed, nearly every American musical group of the 1960s had at least one member who evaded the Vietnam-era draft by scheming to fail a physical examination through some combination of drug use, sleep deprivation, neglected hygiene, deliberate starvation, feigned homosexuali... |
8600 | Vietnamese hat seller turns to homemade face shields in virus fight. | For nearly three decades, Quach My Linh has sold hats at Ba Chieu market in Vietnam’s bustling Ho Chi Minh City. | true | Health News | But following a nationwide lockdown to curb the spread of the coronavirus, the 42-year-old vendor has turned to making plastic face shields for frontline medical workers instead. “I was once a patient myself and I feel like my family owes doctors a lot”, said Linh, who received hospital treatment a few years ago for a ... |
15651 | Delta has had the most animal deaths among U.S. carriers in the past five years | Pet-death claim leaves out important details | mixture | Georgia, Public Safety, Transportation, Bloomberg.com, | "A new tracking device available to pets being transported in the cargo hold was supposed to calm passengers about flying with Fido on Delta Air Lines. But coverage of gadget to monitor temperature and crate positioning also included some data that may have had the opposite effect. ""Delta has had the most animal death... |
10566 | Study links ADHD medicine with better test scores | A consortium of 19 hydropower companies and organizations said it will receive European Union funding of 18 million euros ($20 million) to research the green energy form’s role, as the 28-member bloc seeks to become carbon neutral by 2050. | true | The deal will be announced on Tuesday on the sidelines of the United Nations climate conference in Madrid, a day before the new European Commission lays out its “European Green Deal” policy to make Europe the first climate-neutral continent. The consortium includes EDF, Voith, and General Electric Hydro, as well as uni... | |
3419 | Teen accused of leaving newborn in dumpster cited for abuse. | A teenager accused of abandoning her newborn baby in a building’s dumpster in Northern California in scorching heat was cited for child abuse and will be released to her parents after she leaves the hospital, police said Wednesday. | true | Police, Stockton, Health, Sacramento, General News, California, Child abuse, U.S. News | Two people found the boy wrapped in a blanket inside a plastic bag Tuesday afternoon in Stockton, about 50 miles (80 kilometers) south of Sacramento. Officers later found his 15-year-old mother while canvassing the apartment complex, but it’s unclear if she lives there, Stockton Police Department spokesman Officer Jose... |
7161 | Quake near Canada border jolts Yukon, southeast Alaska. | A major earthquake in northwest British Columbia shook up communities in nearby Alaska and Yukon Territory but caused no apparent damage. | true | Anchorage, Alaska, Science, Canada, Earthquakes, Yukon | Kathryn Carl, a teacher in the Alaska village of Klukwan about 40 miles (64 kilometers) from the epicenter, said the magnitude 6.2 quake shook her awake at 4:30 a.m. Carl thought her 80-pound Karelian bear dog had jumped on the bed. “She was sitting there,” Carl said. “She knew about it before we did.” A series of afte... |
3378 | King County child dies of flu. | Public health officials say a King County child died of complications from the flu earlier this month — the first known case of a pediatric flu-related death in the county since 2009. | true | Health, General News, Seattle, Flu, Public health | The Seattle Times reports the child was elementary-school age and died in a Pierce County hospital Dec. 15, according to a statement from Public Health — Seattle & King County. Three King County adults also have died since the start of this flu season, which began unusually early and is especially affecting children, h... |
8938 | Probiotics could help millions of patients suffering from bipolar disorder | This news release focuses on a study of the gut microbiome, an emerging avenue of research. The release would have been better had it provided more detail about the study (including the number of patients involved) and the sizes of the beneficial effects. Instead, the release relies heavily on speculative language, sug... | false | American College of Neuropsychophamacology,bipolar disorder,Probiotics | Neither the cost, composition, or dosing of the intervention — a probiotic preparation of strains of a Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium — is provided. The release notes that the 6-month study yielded the following results: The group randomized to receive the probiotic, on average, “didn’t return to hospital as quickly... |
9494 | Two big studies bolster the claim that coffee – even decaf – is good for you | This Los Angeles Times story was one of many news outlets to report on a pair of large epidemiological studies on coffee-drinking and mortality. And like many of those other stories, this piece seems to assume that coffee really is healthy, although that is not proven by these or any other observational (association) s... | true | coffee | There’s little need to discuss costs of a substance as well known as coffee. The story does a good job of describing groups for comparison: coffee-abstainers, light drinkers (1-6 cups per week), and heavier drinkers (>2 cups per day). However death rates were presented as relative risk. How many of the 18,000-plus subj... |
2229 | Scientists solve the mystery of the dragon with transparent teeth. | Dwelling in the dark ocean depths, the dragonfish is a frightful marvel that would fit nicely into any horror movie, boasting exotic adaptations such as virtually transparent fangs that help it thrive in this extreme environment. | true | Science News | The nature of these see-through teeth had been a mystery, until now. Scientists on Wednesday described what makes these teeth so clear, saying they are made of the same basic material as human teeth but that it has been dramatically reorganized. The researchers studied the dragonfish species called Aristostomias scinti... |
33249 | Schoolkids are smoking and injecting crushed bedbugs to get high from a hallucinogenic substance they contain. | The “crushed bedbugs” item has now entered the pantheon of bogus alarmist warnings about fictitiously bizarre things that kids supposedly do to get inexpensive highs, such as shamboiling (i.e., inhaling boiled shampoo fumes), jenkem (i.e., inhaling fermented raw sewage), and shooting up with Pantene brand shampoo. | false | Horrors, ASP Article, bedbugs, getting high | April 2014 saw the proliferation of Internet accounts, based on a purported local television news spot from Phoenix station KNXV, reporting the latest alleged shocking schoolyard trend: kids smoking or injecting crushed bedbugs to get a cheap high from a hallucinogenic substance (PH-417) supposedly contained within tho... |
37513 | Those $1200 coronavirus/COVID-19 stimulus payments aren't a grant from the government, they're an advance on your 2020 tax refund or a loan you'll have to repay the IRS. | Is a $1,200 Coronavirus Stimulus an Advance on 2020’s Tax Credit — or a Loan You Have to Pay Back in 2021? | unproven | Fact Checks, Viral Content | In the early evening of March 27 2020, news that Americans would receive COVID-19 stimulus checks of $1,200 or higher was a flashpoint of discussion in the reporting of the passage of the the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act, also called the CARES Act.Initial reporting often focused on attendant “stim... |
3380 | Missouri agency requests state money to fight fatal disease. | A Missouri agency has asked the state for more funding to combat Legionnaires’ disease, a severe form of pneumonia that has sickened more than 800 people in the state over the last five years. | true | Health, Michael Brown, General News, Public health, State budgets | The Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services said the state’s response to the disease has grown and that current state laboratory staff are unable to complete all duties, according to documents submitted to state budget officials. As of July, 812 people in the state had contracted Legionnaires’ since 2014 and ... |
34545 | "A ""daith piercing"" can cure migraine headaches." | In short, acupuncture itself is a scientifically questionable therapy even when administered by protocol; daith piercings as an acupuncture proxy goes several steps further into the territory of shaky folk medicine. Like acupuncture, daith piercings are unlikely to hurt or harm most patients. However, cartilage piercin... | unproven | Medical, acupuncture, alternative medicine, daith piercings | As many as one in five Americans suffers from chronic migraine headaches, an episodic condition exacerbated by a lack of consistent treatment options. Many migraine sufferers struggle to avoid known triggers but inevitably experience periodic (and crippling) episodes. Perhaps owing to the hit-and-miss nature of migrain... |
6594 | Past few days ‘difficult’ for former Tennessee coach Summitt. | Pat Summitt’s family said Sunday that the last few days have been difficult for the former Tennessee women’s basketball coach as her Alzheimer’s disease progresses. | true | Womens basketball, Top News, Health, Isabelle Harrison, Knoxville, Pat Summitt, Sports, Basketball, College Sports, Tamika Catchings, Tennessee, Alzheimers disease | Amid reports of Summitt’s failing health, her family issued a statement asking for prayers and saying that the 64-year-old Summitt is surrounded by the people who mean the most to her. It also asked for privacy. The statement was posted on the Pat Summitt Foundation’s website and was issued by Erin Freeman, a spokeswom... |
35180 | Onions placed in bowls around your home will fight off the flu virus. | An old servant (Essex) … recently complained that … Spanish onions … were too big. When an obvious method of getting over that difficulty was suggested, she replied, ‘Oh, no! that would never do! It’s so unlucky to have a cut onion in the house.’ | false | Medical, Home Cures | Although influenza is no longer the unchecked grim reaper of years past (in 1918 it killed half a million Americans and twenty to forty million folks worldwide), it continues to present a very real danger even in these more modern times. According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), millions of people in the Unit... |
36599 | Vehicle fuel gauges feature a small arrow on the car's interior indicating the side of the vehicle on which its gas tank is located. | Does the Arrow on a Car’s Gas Gauge Indicate Which Side Has the Fuel Tank? | mixture | Fact Checks, Viral Content | A tweet published in December 2018 reiterated a long-circulating purported “life hack,” in which an easy-to-miss arrow on a car’s gas gauge indicated the side of the vehicle on which its gas tank was located:How old were you when you realized the arrow on the gas pump in your car shows which side the gas tank is on? pi... |
31520 | Various restaurants around the world were shut down for serving for serving human meat. | In July 2016 the Spanish-language “satirical daily” web site La Voz Popular published a spoof about “Edible Brother,” a human flesh restaurant in Tokyo, that was picked up by other sites in November 2017 and run as if it were legitimate news. | false | Junk News, bbc, cannibalism, human meat | Rumors that some restaurant was shut down for serving human meat have been circulating online for years and flare up again from time to time, as in one report published by the web site news.states-tv.com in 2017 that claimed one such restaurant was called “Rose Kitchen” and was located in a hotel in Pretoria, South Afr... |
35932 | Phil Spector deliberately recorded a unreleasable song called 'The Screw' in order to cheat his former partner out of court-ordered royalty payments. | Moreover, if Spector were going to try the legal dodge of issuing a record he knew wouldn’t sell so as to technically fulfill the terms of a settlement while generating as few royalties as possible, he had to put at least some copies of the record on the market so that it had a chance to sell, even if no one wanted it.... | false | Entertainment, music | The relationship between the worlds of art and commerce has long been an uneasy one. Artists, beholden to commercial concerns, have often found themselves having to compromise both the quality and the quantity of their work in order to live up to contractual obligations. The music, publishing, and film industries are r... |
26547 | Facebook post Says a “5G LAW PASSED while everyone was distracted” with the coronavirus pandemic and lists 20 symptoms associated with 5G exposure. | President Donald Trump signed a law March 23 that tasks the federal government with securing 5G data networks. It does not explicitly provide for the installation of more cell towers. While some experts are concerned about the potential health effects of 5G, there is no evidence to support the symptoms listed in the po... | false | Facebook Fact-checks, Coronavirus, Facebook posts, | "A conspiracy theory with roots in a Russian propaganda campaign is getting new life amid the coronavirus pandemic. In a March 28 post, a Facebook user refers to Public Law No. 116-129 and claims the government is taking advantage of the COVID-19 pandemic to distract from the installation of 5G cellular data towers. Th... |
6111 | EPA ends clean air policy opposed by fossil fuel interests. | The Trump administration announced Thursday it is doing away with a decades-old air emissions policy opposed by fossil fuel companies, a move that environmental groups say will result in more pollution. | true | Clean Air Act, Politics, North America, Environment, Business, Pollution | The Environmental Protection Agency said it was withdrawing the “once-in always-in” policy under the Clean Air Act, which dictated how major sources of hazardous air pollutants are regulated. Under the EPA’s new interpretation, such “major sources” as coal-fired power plants can be reclassified as “area sources” when t... |
103 | Two charities to pay $6 million to resolve U.S. pharma kickback probe. | Two charities will pay $6 million to resolve claims they operated as pass-throughs for seven pharmaceutical companies to pay kickbacks to Medicare patients using their high-priced medications, the U.S. Justice Department said on Friday. | true | Health News | The settlements with the patient assistance charities Good Days and Patient Access Network Foundation were the first with foundations linked to an industry-wide probe that has resulted in $840 million in settlements with drugmakers. Both foundations provide assistance to patients seeking to pay out-of-pocket costs for ... |
5292 | Abortion-rights activists renew battle in Argentina. | Argentine activists launched a renewed effort Tuesday seeking to legalize elective abortions in the homeland of Pope Francis after narrowly falling short last year. | true | Campaigns, Reproductive rights, Health, Abortion, Buenos Aires, Legislation, Latin America, Caribbean, Penelope Cruz, Pope Francis, Womens health, Argentina, Bills, Religion | Lawmakers said they would introduce a bill that would legalize abortion for pregnancies up to 14 weeks. A similar measure last year passed the lower house of Congress but was defeated in the Senate under heavy opposition by religious groups. The movement behind the legislation came closer than ever to approval and acti... |
214 | GSK's long acting HIV injection gets boost from study. | GlaxoSmithKline’s experimental HIV injection is as effective when given every other month as monthly, according to a study, a convenience that could help the British drugmaker in its battle against a rival drug from Gilead Sciences.GSK’s two-drug injection was as effective as a monthly dose of the same regimen in maint... | true | Health News | Detailed results will be presented at an unspecified medical conference, the company added. ViiV, in which Pfizer and Shionogi have small stakes, is working on two-drug combinations and will use the lower drug burden in comparison with three-drug cocktails such as Gilead’s Biktarvy as its main selling point to patients... |
12962 | Pads and tampons (are) still taxed when Viagra and Rogaine are not. | "Judd said, ""Pads and tampons (are) still taxed when Viagra and Rogaine are not."" Most states do tax tampons and pads, but not Viagra. Judd is off the mark for Rogaine, which is taxed in most states. But it’s important to note that these taxes apply to broad categories and are not specific to tampons or Viagra. Birth... | mixture | Women, Taxes, PunditFact, Ashley Judd, | "Actress Ashley Judd declared herself a nasty woman at the Women’s March in Washington D.C., referring to President Donald Trump’s comment about Hillary Clinton during the general election campaign. Reciting a poem from 19-year-old Nina Donovan of Tennessee, Judd said she is nasty as in ""loud, vulgar and proud"" but n... |
38196 | Charlottesville Police were told to stand down during demonstrations there in August 2017 that brought violent clashes between white nationalist protesters and counter-protesters that led to the death of a 32-year-old counter-protestor. | Charlottesville Police Were Told to Stand Down During Protests-Reported as Fiction! | false | Crime / Police | Police response to demonstrations in Charlottesville have drawn criticism from people on both sides of the issue — but there’s no evidence to support claims that Charlottesville Police were told to stand down. The rumor appears to have started with right-wing commentator and conspiracy theorist Alex Jones during an Aug... |
10724 | PSA Test Cut-off Could Signal Low-Risk Prostate Cancer | It’s little wonder that there are no independent perspectives in the story when it jumps the gun on when the data are even presented. How could anyone react when they haven’t heard or seen the data? We sympathize with the reporter asked to wrap up the teleconference presentations (virtually an audio news release) on th... | false | Cancer,HealthDay,Screening | There was no discussion about how costs might be affected by any of the three aspects of prostate cancer testing and treatment described in this story. And all three had significant cost implications. The story did an incomplete job explaining the possible benefits to patients of the various changes to prostate cancer ... |
8467 | Japan health ministry projects 400,000 deaths without virus containment measures: media. | Japan’s death toll from the novel coronavirus could reach 400,000 without measures to stem the contagion, according to a health ministry projection reported by local media. | true | Health News | A ministry team studying clusters of the disease estimated that serious cases needing ventilator intervention could reach 850,000, Kyodo and the Asahi newspaper reported. The projections are based on research from Hokkaido University professor Hiroshi Nishiura, one of the infectious disease experts guiding the governme... |
29023 | A list collect passages about racism taken from Barack Obama's books. | "Barack Obama did not write in 2006 that ""I will stand with the Muslims should the political winds shift in an ugly direction.""" | mixture | Politics Politicians, barack obama, muslims | The above-quoted e-mail forward reproduces passages taken from Barack Obama’s two books — Dreams from My Father (1995) and The Audacity of Hope — (2006) with the presumed intent of presenting Obama as a self-declared racist. However, these cherry-picked statements are all presented devoid of context, and some of them a... |
415 | Bloody Philippine drug war fails to curb methamphetamine supply: VP. | Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte’s war on drugs has only managed to curb the supply of methamphetamines by less than 1% of annual consumption, proof that it has been a bloody failure, his main political rival, the vice president, said on Monday. | true | Health News | Thousands of suspected drug traffickers and users have been killed in the campaign that Duterte launched soon after he won election in 2016. Vice President Leni Robredo, who was elected separately to the president, and recently served a brief stint as the president’s drug “tsar”, said vast quantities of the highly addi... |
4710 | In a first, Peruvian with Down syndrome runs for parliament . | Bryan Russell has Down syndrome and does daily speech exercises, putting pens and corks in his mouth to help build up low muscle tone there. He is also waging a longshot bid to become a national Peruvian lawmaker, going door to door in Lima to ask for votes. | true | Caribbean, Down syndrome, Health, General News, Latin America, Campaigns, Peru, Lima | Russell, 27, wants to use his campaign to raise awareness about people with developmental disabilities and he says he represents an alternative to the scourge of corruption in Peru that has brought down presidents and weakened democratic institutions. “I’m someone clean, honest, transparent,” Russell said in an intervi... |
2902 | Lung cancer rates decline for U.S. men, women: study. | The percentage of U.S. adults developing lung cancer is falling, with the sharpest declines among those aged 35 to 44, according to U.S. data released on Thursday, fifty years after the surgeon general’s first-ever report warning of the dangers of smoking. | true | Health News | The lung cancer rate dropped by 2.6 percent per year among men and 1.1 percent per year among women, between 2005 and 2009, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found, using the most recent available data. The largest decline was seen in adults aged 35 to 44, with a 6.4 percent drop per year among men and a 5... |
35541 | Melinda Gates wore an upside-down cross in broadcast interviews in May 2020 to denounce Christianity. | What's true: Based on our examination of the videos in question, Melinda Gates did wear a necklace with a pendant in the shape of a cross in interviews. What's false: According to the Church of Satan, an upside-down or inverted cross is not an official symbol of loyalty. What's undetermined: Due to the low resolution o... | false | Politics, COVID-19 | Melinda Gates has been a frequent target of misinformation campaigns during the COVID-19 coronavirus disease pandemic. So it was perhaps not surprising in May 2020 when her jewelry raised new suspicions among conspiracy theorists that she — the famous philanthropist and partner to Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates — had ... |
36479 | "Nick Jr.'s ""Max & Ruby"" involves a tragic backstory: violent deaths, molestation, and traumatic brain injury." | Do Children’s Characters ‘Max and Ruby’ Have a Tragic Backstory? | false | Entertainment, Fact Checks | In 2015, the following content (archived here), an apparent Tumblr screenshot describing the purported backstory for the preschool book series and television show Max & Ruby, started to circulate on social media:Underneath a still from Max & Ruby were comments from an original poster and another person. The first said:... |
724 | Zimbabwe doctors say receiving death threats over strike. | Striking Zimbabwean doctors said on Wednesday they were being threatened with death and suspected state security agents were pressuring them after police blocked their second protest march over the disappearance of their union leader. | true | Health News | Peter Magombeyi, president of the Zimbabwe Hospital Doctors Association (ZHDA) and one organizer of an ongoing strike to demand higher wages for state doctors because of soaring living costs, disappeared on Saturday night. ZHDA represents junior and middle level doctors at public hospitals. “As health professionals we ... |
4333 | Global Fund raises $13.92 billion to fight AIDS, TB, malaria. | An organization that funds programs to fight AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria raised at least $13.92 billion for the next three years at an international conference, French President Emmanuel Macron said Thursday. | true | Bill Gates, Malaria, Emmanuel Macron, General News, Entertainment, France, Africa, Health, Bono, Tuberculosis, Celebrities, Europe | The Global Fund said after the conference that Macron, Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates and Bono of the rock band U2 “committed to raise at least a further $100 million during the replenishment period to achieve a total of over $14 billion” - the organization’s goal for its conference in France. The last Global Fund con... |
38838 | A man who spent six days in a coma after an attack awoke speaking ancient Hebrew and has no recollection of his former life. | Amnesiac Wakes From Coma Speaking Only Ancient Hebrew | false | Health / Medical | A fake news website is behind this hoax. The fictional story of a 53-year-old California man who awoke from a coma speaking only ancient Hebrew first appeared at the fake news website World News Daily Report: The man was found unconscious in a California motel on August 9. He had with him a duffel bag of exercise cloth... |
1480 | Igor the Siberian tiger gets stem-cell hip treatment in Hungary. | Igor, a Siberian tiger in a Hungarian zoo, received stem-cell joint treatment on Wednesday which doctors hoped would help heal its hip and allow it to live happily, on less medicine. | true | Science News | Igor is a 13-year old tiger living in the zoo in the southern Hungarian town of Szeged. It has been suffering from hip joint pains for years. The treatment, used more widely on humans than animals, cures injured joints with tissue taken from patients’ own fatty tissue, which contains regenerative stem cells, doctors sa... |
12918 | "Nancy Pelosi Says Neil Gorsuch ""comes down on the side of felons over gun safety." | "Pelosi said Gorsuch ""comes down on the side of felons over gun safety."" There’s one case, Games-Perez, where Gorsuch wouldn’t immediately send the defendant, a felon, to prison for having a gun, despite the federal ban on felons possessing guns. But Gorsuch’s reasoning wasn’t about whether the law infringed on the d... | false | National, Criminal Justice, Crime, Supreme Court, Guns, Nancy Pelosi, | "President Donald Trump’s Supreme Court nominee favors felons over gun safety, says House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif. Pelosi said nominee Neil Gorsuch has ruled against liberal positions on a litany of issues like employee rights, food and water safety, reproductive rights and guns. Gorsuch is a conservative... |
7045 | Nobel peace winners demand action against sex abuse. | One of the winners of this year’s Nobel Peace Prize says the attention the prize has drawn to sexual violence against women in war zones must be followed by action against the abuses. | true | Nadia Murad, Denis Mukwege, International News, Norway, Africa, Health, Nobel Prizes, Iraq, Europe | Dr. Denis Mukwege spoke Sunday at a news conference with Nadia Murad of Iraq, with whom he shared the 9-million Swedish kronor ($1 million) prize. Mukwege was honored for his work helping sexually abused women at the hospital he founded in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Murad, a Yazidi, won for her advocacy for sex ... |
1672 | U.S. aims to crack down on 'novelty' motorcycle helmets. | U.S. transportation regulators on Wednesday called for stronger rules for motorcycle helmets, proposing additional safety requirements in an effort to crack down on “novelty” helmets that do not meet federal standards. | true | Health News | The Department of Transportation said such uncertified helmets are unsafe and do not protect riders in crashes despite being sold and marketed for use on the road. Its proposal would further define what makes an acceptable motorcycle helmet, from its thickness to its compression ability, in an attempt to help riders an... |
16126 | "Reince Priebus Says Barack Obama has ""the worst record of any president when it comes to putting America deeper in debt." | "Priebus said Obama has ""the worst record of any president when it comes to putting America deeper in debt."" On Obama’s watch, debt as a share of GDP rose far faster than it did during any prior presidency. But if you look at the current amount of debt compared to where he started, the rise was not as fast as it was ... | mixture | National, Debt, History, Reince Priebus, | "Public concern about America’s debt load tends to wax and wane, but it never really goes away. Recently, Reince Priebus, the chairman of the Republican National Committee, brought up the national debt again, right around the time the broadest measure of national debt broke through the $18 trillion barrier for the firs... |
6347 | Test shows donated blood positive for West Nile virus. | Donated blood from a Detroit-area resident has tested positive for the mosquito-borne West Nile virus. | true | Pontiac, Blood donation, Health, General News, Detroit, West Nile virus | The Oakland County health department says it was notified of the positive test by state health officials. The health department says Thursday it’s the first blood donation in 2019 that has tested positive for the virus in Oakland County. West Nile virus primarily is transmitted to humans through the bites of infected m... |
7187 | Washington Senate approves universal health care work group. | The Washington Senate has passed a bill that would create a work group to study how universal health care could work in the state. | true | Legislature, Health care reform, Washington, Universal health care, Business, Bills | The measure, which was the last bill taken up by the chamber before a key floor deadline Wednesday, passed on a 28-21 vote. It now heads to the House for consideration. Several groups would be included in the work group, including the public, community health advocates, businesses, health care providers, and state offi... |
3900 | Japan empress turns 56, still recovering her mental health. | Japanese Empress Masako, still recovering from stress-induced mental health issues, said Monday she was happy to have completed her duties as part of Emperor Naruhito’s enthronement rituals and pledged to keep up the work and help her husband more for the happiness of the people. | true | Stress, Mental health, International News, General News, Birthdays, Health, Japan, Asia Pacific, Naruhito | In a palace statement marking her 56th birthday, Masako thanked people who have warmly welcomed the couple after Naruhito succeeded to the throne on May 1, following his father’s abdication. “Many smiley faces I’ve seen in many places are precious memories for me and they will be my big moral support as I move forward,... |
2236 | Most northern China cities fail to meet winter smog targets: data. | A majority of 39 northern Chinese cities have failed to meet anti-pollution targets over the six-months to end-March, a Reuters study of official data showed, adding to fears the war on smog has lost momentum. | true | Environment | Chinese Premier Li Keqiang declared a “war on pollution” in 2014 and the government has spent billions of yuan to bolster monitoring and enforcement, raised industrial standards and shut thousands of small “backward” enterprises. But Reuters calculations based on online monitoring data show 30 out of 39 cities in the k... |
37849 | "The recommendation to wear masks to prevent COVID-19 has been ""debunked." | Facebook Fact-Checking Platform Dangerously Labels Mask Meme ‘False,’ Discourages Use of Masks Against Expert Guidelines | false | Disinformation, Fact Checks | In May 2020 — in the middle of a global COVID-19 pandemic — a screenshot of a dangerously misapplied Facebook fact-checking flag began circulating which falsely and dangerously contradicts best practices around the use of masks in public places:The MemeWe spotted the above screenshot circulating in the wild. The left s... |
41837 | “50 percent” of “Iowans under 65 in David Young’s district have preexisting conditions. | The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee is airing ads across the country to boost Democrats’ chances of taking control of the House. But we found several ads that ran afoul of the facts. | mixture | American Health Care Act, emails, preexisting conditions, Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, | The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee is airing ads across the country to boost Democrats’ chances of taking control of the House. But we found several ads that ran afoul of the facts.The DCCC, an official party committee, is the second biggest spender behind the Congressional Leadership Fund, which calls its... |
1168 | Robots fight weeds in challenge to agrochemical giants. | In a field of sugar beet in Switzerland, a solar-powered robot that looks like a table on wheels scans the rows of crops with its camera, identifies weeds and zaps them with jets of blue liquid from its mechanical tentacles. | true | Environment | Undergoing final tests before the liquid is replaced with weedkiller, the Swiss robot is one of new breed of AI weeders that investors say could disrupt the $100 billion pesticides and seeds industry by reducing the need for universal herbicides and the genetically modified (GM) crops that tolerate them. Dominated by c... |
4006 | 3 more measles cases confirmed in Georgia county. | Georgia health officials have confirmed three additional cases of measles in an Atlanta area county where a middle school student was recently diagnosed with the virus. | true | Health, Atlanta, Georgia, Measles | The Georgia Department of Public Health said Friday at least two of the three new measles patients in Cobb County are not vaccinated. All three are part of the same family. Tests are under way to determine if yet one more person is infected. Cobb County school district officials said Monday that a student at Mabry Midd... |
6362 | Store clerk in Las Vegas tests positive for hepatitis A. | Health officials say a clerk at a Las Vegas convenience store has tested positive for hepatitis A. | true | Health, General News, Hepatitis, Las Vegas, Nevada | The Southern Nevada Health District is warning that store customers could be at risk of infection. Transmission of hepatitis A from food handlers to patrons is rare. But the health district cautions that customers of a 7-Eleven convenience store on South Maryland Parkway who purchased non-prepackaged foods such as hot ... |
45 | Johnson & Johnson says new tests show no asbestos in Johnson's Baby Powder. | Johnson & Johnson said on Tuesday that recent tests showed that Johnson’s Baby Powder was free of asbestos, after U.S. Food and Drug Administration investigations reported trace amounts of the material in the product earlier this year. | true | Health News | A total of 155 tests were conducted by two different third-party labs using four different testing methods on samples from the same bottle tested by the FDA’s contracted lab, the company said. The tests are the latest effort by J&J to prove the safety of its widely used consumer product after the test by the FDA prompt... |
9573 | Weight-Loss Surgery Sheds Pounds Long Term | Bariatric surgeries have been identified as perhaps the most successful means for people who are morbidly obese to lose weight, and use of these procedures is increasing, according to the American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery. Information about whether the weight-loss results last, and for how long, is a... | true | bariatric surgery | Cost is not a component of this story. That is an issue, as the story compares three weight-loss surgical options for morbidly obese individuals, and readers might well be interested in the economics. Also, it would be useful to discuss the costs of not having surgery in the matched population. The story does a nice jo... |
32321 | "A video depicts a Chinese vendor making ""synthetic cabbages"" for sale in American restaurants and supermarkets." | Even in the absence of ample evidence that wax food displays are exceptionally common in Asia, it stands to reason that synthetic cabbages wouldn’t fly as a market staple anywhere in the world due to the fact that wax is unpalatable and would clearly melt when cooked, and cabbage’s relatively low price point makes such... | false | Fauxtography, fake, food from china, made in china | On 17 February 2016, the Facebook page “The People’s Voice” published a video purportedly depicting “[a]rtificial synthetic ‘cabbages’ … being made in China in just 40 seconds flat … coming to a grocery store near you soon”: The foreign language clip, titled “Fake Cabbage in Market,” involved a man ladling colored liq... |
6776 | Utah soccer star overcomes challenges as openly gay athlete. | Carly Nelson loves everything about her goalkeeper’s job description for the Utah women’s soccer team, including the pressure of keeping opponents from scoring, having a unique view of the field and directing the defenders in front of her. “And, of course,” she said, “wearing the different colors.” | true | Health, Utah, Womens soccer, Soccer, General News | Nelson has worn distinctive goalie uniforms of gray, pink, blue and yellow at various times in her Ute career. Those color choices are her personal expressions, just as her parents once believed about her sexual orientation. Being openly gay as a college athlete is part of Nelson’s complex story that includes a suicide... |
10065 | Tai chi may ease fibromyalgia pain | "The story does two things better than all the other stories. It puts a dollar figure to the cost of tai chi therapy, and it gives people a better sense of how popular tai chi is. It could have done a better job evaluating the evidence and providing some absolute numbers to help readers decide how seriously to take the... | true | "This is the only of the five stories to actually put a dollar figure on the classes. ""Even the cost of a class, which can top $50 a month, is modest compared with the cost of many medications. And unlike drugs, tai chi had no harmful side effects, she says."" Unlike the AP story, which made the mistake of saying that... | |
2124 | Study finds alcohol abuse a problem in UK forces. | British troops in Afghanistan or Iraq are far more likely to become alcohol abusers back home than fellow troops, but levels of post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) are stable, psychiatrists said on Thursday. | true | Health News | A large study by doctors from King’s College London found that rates of PTSD among British armed forces were stable at around 4 percent, but there were higher rates of common mental disorders such as anxiety and depression, and of alcohol misuse. “Our view is that alcohol misuse is actually a greater problem for the ar... |
3706 | Samoa measles epidemic worsens with 24 children now dead. | Authorities said Monday that a measles epidemic sweeping through Samoa continues to worsen with the death toll rising to 25, all but one of them young children. | true | Samoa, Health, Measles, General News, New Zealand, Epidemics | “We still have a big problem at hand,” Samoa’s Director General of Health Leausa Take Naseri said in a video statement. He said more than 140 new cases of people contracting the virus had been recorded within the past day, bringing the total to about 2,200 cases since the outbreak began last month. He said there are ab... |
19733 | Taxes on groceries and medicine will rise under a plan to improve roads and rail for metro Atlanta. | Transportatioplan tax foe says plan hikes prices on food, medicine | true | Georgia, Transportation, Vincent Fort, | "Opponents of a 1 percent sales tax to overhaul the region’s roads and rail are saying the plan will make it harder for metro Atlantans to buy the things they need the most. It’s downright unfair, said state Sen. Vincent Fort, a Democrat who represents a district that stretches from East Point through parts of Atlanta.... |
8456 | Lockdowns should be lifted in two-week stages to stem COVID-19 spread: WHO. | Countries that ease restrictions imposed to fight the spread of the coronavirus should wait at least two weeks to evaluate the impact of such changes before easing again, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Wednesday. | true | Health News | In its latest Strategy Update, the U.N. agency said that the world stands at a “pivotal juncture” in the pandemic and that “speed, scale, and equity must be our guiding principles” when deciding what measures are necessary. Every country should implement comprehensive public health measures to maintain a sustainable st... |
10732 | Omega-3 margarines fail to help in heart study | European investors representing over six trillion euros in assets are calling on European Union governments to speed up efforts to enshrine the EU’s 2050 climate neutrality goal in law. | true | In a letter, 44 firms, including Allianz, Handelsbanken, Aberdeen Investment and Aegon NV, said a law would give investors more confidence to make long-term decisions on environmentally responsible projects. The move showcases investors’ increased focus on climate change, both as a risk and an opportunity. Quoting the ... | |
15819 | The Iranian parliament will get to say yes or no on this deal, and I think the United States Congress should have the exact same input into the process. | "Johnson said, ""The Iranian parliament will get to say yes or no"" on the nuclear deal. This is incorrect on two accounts. Experts said the nuclear agreement between the United States and Iran won’t require ratification by Iran’s parliament, the Islamic Consultative Assembly. It’s possible the deal will be contingent ... | false | National, Foreign Policy, Nuclear, Ron Johnson, | "Republican Sen. Ron Johnson wants President Barack Obama to seek Congress’ approval before finalizing a deal with Iran, an agreement that would halt the country’s nuclear weapons program in exchange for sanction relief. Obama has argued that since the agreement is not a treaty, Congress’ approval isn’t needed. But Joh... |
12514 | "If you’re getting your insurance through (your employer), nothing changes"" under Trumpcare." | Blum said for people who get their insurance through their employer, the American Health Care Act changes nothing. The experts we reached said that there actually is a way that the GOP bill could affect employer plans. States could decide to trim the list of essential health services. Employers could still offer a full... | mixture | National, Health Care, Rod Blum, | "Rep. Rod Blum, R-Iowa, faced a feisty crowd at a high school gymnasium in Dubuque when voters in his district pressed him on his vote for the House Republican health care bill, the American Health Care Act. Blum aimed to put the bill’s changes into perspective. ""This bill, Trumpcare — whatever you want to call it — i... |
3559 | Vikings unveil community food truck to serve hungry youth. | Dalvin Cook’s rookie year was dominated by his rehabilitation from reconstructive knee surgery, and his second season included recuperation from a significant hamstring strain. The arduous process of recovery from injuries quickly made the Minnesota Vikings running back realize the necessity of eating right. | true | Nutrition, Health, NFL, Minnesota, Dalvin Cook | When he entered the NFL, Cook could hardly have envisioned spinach as the centerpiece of one of his meals. Now, he’s made youth nutrition his chief charitable cause, trying to help kids embrace the value of healthy foods. “I just started seeing some of the stuff I was eating, and I was like, ‘I never would’ve had this ... |
11173 | Stent procedure reduces stay to repair aneurysm | This is an unbalanced story on the supposed benefits of the use of a stent to repair an aortic aneurysm. The risk of an untreated aneurysm which the reader is told “can burst, causing severe back pain and often death within minutes” is not contrasted with the risks of having had an aneurysm treated. There was no mentio... | false | No mention of costs; article explained that no routine scans are typically done for the underlying anomaly because Medicare won’t cover chest X-rays for this purpose. Estimate of death rate from the procedure is presumably for death immediately following the procedure. No data on the benefit from the treatment (symptom... | |
9051 | High doses of vitamin D rapidly reduce arterial stiffness | Getty Images With just a few tweaks, this could have been a stellar release on a small study about the benefits of high doses of vitamin D on arterial stiffness. Arterial stiffness is a cause of atherosclerosis, a thickening and stiffening of the arterial wall, and is related to high blood pressure or hypertension. Th... | mixture | arterial stiffness,Medical College of Georgia at Augusta University,vitamin D | The release responsibly notes that obtaining more vitamin D is a potentially simple endeavor for most individuals. They can drink more milk, for example, or purchase a relatively inexpensive supplement. The release quantifies the benefits in each group with this statement: “Two thousand IUs decreased stiffness by 2 per... |
10028 | The Cutting Edge: Amazing Journey Inside the Brain | "Brain disorders such as brain tumors, dementia and epilepsy are common and vexing health problems. Advances in imaging have helped identify these problems earlier and in some cases, such as certain kinds of stroke, finding these problems fast and treating them appropriately can significantly improve outcomes. This sto... | false | "The story does not describe the cost of the device, or of MRIs in general. The story also assumes insurance will cover it without providing any justification. The story does not quantify the benefits of the device nor does it comment on the lack of data available to be able to quantify the benefits. The story mentions... | |
18938 | Connecticut has the fifth toughest gun control laws in the country, including an assault weapons ban that bans 35 different weapons. | Kingston makes issue of Connecticut's gun control laws | true | Georgia, Guns, Jack Kingston, | "Even ardent gun rights supporters are willing to talk gun control in the wake of the deadly shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, Conn. During a Dec. 18 grilling by MSNBC anchor Thomas Roberts, U.S. Rep. Jack Kingston said gun control should be ""up for discussion"" alongside violent video games and mental he... |
27752 | A bison calf was euthanized at Yellowstone National Park after well-meaning tourists put it in their car to keep it warm. | After well-meaning tourists put a calf into their vehicle to keep it warm, but rangers were unable to reunite the animal with its herd. | true | Critter Country, Animal Welfare, bison, yellowstone national park | In May 2016, well-meaning tourists at Yellowstone National Park put a bison calf into their car and drove it to a ranger station because they thought that the animal was cold. A few days later, park rangers had to euthanize the calf after it was repeatedly rejected by its herd: Yellowstone bison calf euthanized after f... |
4635 | Omaha Science Cafe to focus on Lou Gehrig’s disease. | The next Omaha Science Cafe will discuss issues involving Lou Gehrig’s disease. | true | Omaha, Nebraska, Lou Gehrigs disease, Science | Amy Nordness, director of speech-language pathology at the Munroe-Meyer Institute for Genetics and Rehabilitation at the University of Nebraska Medical Center, and Shannon Todd, a care services specialist with The ALS Association Mid-America Chapter, will lead the discussion. The title: “The Eyes Have It — How the Eyes... |
39293 | Religious groups have raised concerns that the ALS Association, which has seen an overwhelming influx of donations through its ice bucket challenge, supports embryonic stem cell research to help find a cure for the degenerative neurological condition. | ALS Association Supports Embryonic Stem Cell Research | true | Medical, Miscellaneous | The ALS Association funds one study that uses embryonic stem cell research, according to an August 23, 2014, article by the Minneapolis Star Tribune. The ALS Association said that the research was funded by “one specific donor who is committed to this area of research.” Additionally, the ALS Association said d... |
24483 | "An Iowa policy ""provides for a state round up of Iowa citizens who might be exposed to the swine flu virus." | E-mail claims Iowa policy seeks to round up Iowans who might be exposed to the swine flu | false | National, Health Care, Chain email, | "Patty Quinlisk, medical director of the Iowa Department of Public Health, has been amazed by the amount of misinformation and blatant lies swirling around about the H1N1 virus and the federal plans to distribute a vaccine. But even she was a bit thrown when a man called last month and asked her whether Iowa was creati... |
8798 | UK parliament backs human-animal embryo research. | Britain’s parliament voted on Monday to allow the creation of human-animal embryos which some scientists say are vital to research cures for diseases but critics argue pervert the course of nature. | true | Science News | An early-stage cloned embryo called a blastocysts is pictured in this undated handout photo. In a separate vote, parliament also decided to allow parents of children suffering serious diseases to use in-vitro fertilisation to select “savior siblings” who can act as donors for transplants to save their sick brothers and... |
5060 | NOT REAL NEWS: Reports of Ebola cases in Texas unfounded. | Texas health officials said Tuesday there are no “suspected or confirmed cases” of Ebola in the state as social media posts have falsely suggested in the wake of immigrants arriving from Africa, including Congo, where an outbreak in has surpassed 2,000 cases. | true | Health, Media, General News, Social media, Immigration, Not Real News, Africa, Texas, AP Fact Check | The false claims, ranging from there is an Ebola “outbreak” in Texas to reports of a few confirmed cases, have been circulating since April. The erroneous claims are also spreading at a time when Border Patrol officials said last week there has been a “dramatic” rise in the number of migrants arriving at the Texas bord... |
2407 | Donors pitch in to pay for surgery for extremely obese Texas girl. | Nearly 1,500 donors have pledged more than $62,000 to help pay for surgery for a 12-year-old Texas girl diagnosed as morbidly obese due to a brain disease that is causing her to gain about two pounds a week. | true | Health News | Alexis Shapiro suffered damage to her pituitary gland, which helps regulate weight, as a result of the brain disease. She has gained about 140 pounds (63.5 kgs) in less than two years because of the problem, her mother said. Her extreme excess of body fat is clinically defined as morbid obesity. “It has been heartbreak... |
10164 | Easing Labor Pain May Help Reduce Postpartum Depression in Some Women,Early Research Suggests | A news release from the American Society of Anesthesiologists highlights the results of a preliminary study on the effect epidurals might have on post-partum depression. According to the release, “some” of 201 women who choose epidural pain relief during the birth of their child saw a decreased risk of developing postp... | false | Association/Society news release | The cost of a birth with an epidural isn’t mentioned. While it depends on the insurance carrier — some pass all or part of the costs of anesthesiology during birth onto consumers — the average epidural in the US adds about $1,200 to a birth bill, with some anesthesiologist practices charging more than $2,700 per epidur... |
2524 | Fitness after 65 is no one-size-fits-all endeavor. | America’s ageing population is posing special challenges, fitness experts say, because it is difficult to design effective workout routines for people with such a wide range of abilities. | true | Health News | For one 70-year-old, the goal may be to run a marathon, for another it’s getting out of a chair. “If you are teaching 10-year-olds, it’s perfectly reasonable to do an activity that everybody would participate in,” said Dr. Wojtek Chodzko-Zajko, an expert on aging with the American College of Sports Medicine. But 20 80-... |
2684 | Caesarean births hit record high in 2007. | Nearly 1.4 million babies born in the United States in 2007 were delivered by Caesarean section, a record U.S. high and a larger number than in most other industrialized nations, health officials said on Tuesday. | true | Health News | In 2007, nearly one-third of all births were Caesarean deliveries, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said in a report, noting large rises in all racial, ethnic and age groups over 10 years. The benefits and risks of Caesarean delivery, which involves major abdominal surgery, have been the subject of i... |
27921 | A video shows dolphins creating and playing with bubble rings. | In jest, Marten said that the capabilities of dolphins to perform “hydrodynamic tricks” could qualify them to be “professors of fluid mechanics at a university.” | true | animals, dolphins | Since at least 2006, a video clip has been making the rounds showing dolphins creating and playing with bubble rings. The video was published just one year after YouTube was created. Before the prominence of social media, it was shared by email: The attached video is of dolphins playing with silver colored rings which ... |
30118 | Despite repeatedly claiming that the Yellowstone caldera does not pose a super-eruption risk in our lifetimes, NASA has admitted the threat is real and is working to geoengineer a solution to negate that risk. | “The good news is that it does seem possible to achieve [such a risk reduction solution] on a timescale that is short compared to the average time between eruptions of a given supervolcano,” Wilcox told us. “The bad news is that humans would have to make a concerted effort for thousands of years to defang a volcano lik... | false | Science, nasa, yellowstone | In the realm of of science-based clickbait, no topic is more reliable for delivering page views and social media shares than claims that the pool of magma sitting below Yellowstone National Park is about to erupt in a humanity-ending cataclysm. As we have repeatedly, exhaustingly, and redundantly reported, the likeliho... |
9707 | Coffee could literally be a lifesaver | This CNN story describes yet another observational study of the possible links between coffee consumption and health, this one concluding that overall, whether decaf or regular, coffee drinking is linked to reduced risk of death from heart disease, diabetes, and neurological disorders such as Parkinson’s Disease, altho... | mixture | coffee,relative vs. absolute risk | Arguably, most people know how much their java habit costs them every day, and neither this CNN story, nor the more detailed and “news you can use”-focused STAT story mentioned costs. Like hazelnut cream, some mention of the overall cost of the coffee habit in the U.S. would have added some flavor, but this omission g... |
953 | China vows to raise recycling rates of rural plastic mulch. | China vowed to improve the recycling rates of plastic mulch used in farming, the government said on Wednesday, amid mounting concerns about soil contamination as unrecovered bits of the thin film get left behind, leaving traces in crops. | true | Environment | Plastic mulch, basically thin sheeting placed over individual crops, is used throughout China’s arid and dusty north to improve growing conditions and boost yields by retaining moisture for crops and suppressing weeds. The country deploys about 200,000 square km (77,220 square miles) of plastic mulch, an area the size ... |
14594 | Under Virginia law, if you are a non-federally licensed (gun) dealer, you cannot get a background check even if you want one. | "McAuliffe says, ""Under Virginia law, if you are a non-federally licensed (gun) dealer, you cannot get a background check even if you want one."" The law requires only licensed dealers - those in the business of selling guns - to conduct background checks on a prospective buyer. As such, only licensed dealers are allo... | false | Guns, Virginia, Terry McAuliffe, | "Gov. Terry McAuliffe says Virginia’s law requiring background checks on prospective gun buyers would be substantially broadened under a bipartisan agreement he’s struck with the General Assembly. Virginia now requires federally licensed dealers - those in the business of selling firearms - to conduct computerized che... |
8290 | Protective gear, cellphone, video chats: How America's clergy minister to COVID-19 patients. | Reverend Manuel Dorantes closed his eyes, took a breath to calm his fear and prayed when word came that Cardinal Blase Joseph Cupich had put out a call for volunteers. | true | Health News | Cupich, archbishop of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago, needed two dozen young priests to take on the sacred duty of administering the last rites to those dying from the new and highly contagious coronavirus. For the priests, like doctors, nurses and other frontline workers, it means putting their lives at ris... |
40136 | The forwarded email appears to be an article featuring the findings of microbiologist Anne LaGrange Loving who found that two-thirds of the lemons tested from 21 restaurants were contaminated with bacteria when added as slices to beverages. | Contaminated Lemon Slices in Restaurants | true | Food / Drink | This study was published in December, 2007 in the Journal of Environmental Health. It was co-authored by Anne LaGrange Loving and John Perz. The authors collected 76 lemon slices from 21 restaurants on 43 visits in Patterson, New Jersey. They swabbed both the lemon slice and the glass on whi... |
42058 | Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Demands Welfare For 1,000,000 Illegals In Exchange For Wall | A false claim circulating online states that Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez — in exchange for a border wall — “demands welfare” for immigrants living in the U.S. illegally. That story originated on a self-described satire site before spreading elsewhere online without any disclaimer. | false | border wall, Illegal immigration, | A false claim circulating online states that Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez — in exchange for a border wall — “demands welfare” for immigrants living in the U.S. illegally. That story originated on a self-described satire site before spreading elsewhere online without any disclaimer.Following the longest government shut... |
10406 | Cholesterol-lowering drugs may treat swine flu | This piece presents the results of a recent study that found that use of statins was associated with decreased mortality in people hospitalized with influenza. While the inclusion of several independent sources was a particular strength of this story, it could have been improved by making it clearer that this research ... | mixture | "Statins are described as “cheap,” but actual figures are not provided. The price of statins varies considerably and some are not cheap. The piece states that statins reduced the rate of deaths by half compared to those not taking statins; however, it would have been more useful to the reader had the results been prese... | |
23456 | Since being elected, (Tom Barrett) has dumped 8.2 billion gallons of raw sewage into Lake Michigan. | Scott Walker blames Tom Barrett for dumping sewage into Lake Michigan | false | Environment, Wisconsin, Scott Walker, | "Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker is raising a stink over sewage. It’s a tempting target, especially when torrential rains July 22 and July 23 forced the dumping of untreated sewage into Lake Michigan and thousands of homes were hit with flooded basements. Walker, a Republican candidate for governor, is blaming ... |
13188 | "Russ Feingold Says Donald Trump and Ron Johnson ""oppose a woman's right to choose and Johnson voted against the Violence Against Women Act." | "Feingold says Trump and Johnson ""oppose a woman’s right to choose and Johnson voted against the Violence Against Women Act."" Trump and Johnson are anti-abortion, though Trump in particular has said he supports exceptions to allow abortion in certain cases. Johnson did vote no on reauthorizing the violence law, but i... | true | Abortion, Criminal Justice, Crime, Women, Wisconsin, Russ Feingold, | "The tight Wisconsin U.S. Senate race has been marked by attacks made on GOP incumbent Ron Johnson and Democratic challenger Russ Feingold. (We’ve highlighted 20 of them.) But ahead of the Nov. 8, 2016 election, Johnson and his fellow Republicans are also trying to tie Feingold to the unpopular Democratic presidential ... |
14117 | "Ohio is ""probably top five in the country, sadly, in terms of heroin overdoses. It’s now exceeded car accidents as the No. 1 cause of death in Ohio." | "Portman said Ohio is ""probably top five in the country, sadly, in terms of heroin overdoses. It’s now exceeded car accidents as the No. 1 cause of death in Ohio."" He has a point about Ohio having the fifth-most drug overdose deaths in the nation for 2014. But he forgot two key words that make an important distinctio... | mixture | Ohio, Drugs, Health Care, Rob Portman, | "Here’s something on which liberals and conservatives can agree: Heroin is bad. The epidemic of drug overdoses has captured media attention on a national scale, and Ohio Sen. Rob Portman is using it to his political advantage. The Republican senator, up for re-election in a tight race, has taken to every platform to pu... |
25872 | “American coronavirus vaccine killed five Ukrainians.” | The alleged testing and deaths have not been reported on by any mainstream news organizations. The claim is by a website known for producing pro-Russian disinformation. Two global databases show no testing in Ukraine for a coronavirus vaccine. | false | Public Health, Facebook Fact-checks, Coronavirus, Facebook posts, | "In June, 35% of Americans in one poll said they definitely won’t or probably won’t take a coronavirus vaccine, which has yet to be developed. In the same Fairleigh Dickinson University survey, 28% said they are not confident that a COVID-19 vaccine will be both effective and safe. Then this headline was widely shared ... |
27272 | "A photograph showing an odd-looking, large bat with an elongated face known as a ""hammerhead bat." | Images of the hammer-headed bat are often met with skepticism, and some viewers claim that this odd-looking creature could be the real-world animal responsible for various sightings of mythical creatures such as the “New Jersey Devil.” | true | Fauxtography, animals, bats | Digital editing has been responsible for the creation of images of some fantastically fictional looking creatures, such as seven-headed snakes, pink-horned rhinos, and impossibly small kittens. In July 2018, many social media users wondered if they were witnessing a similar creation in an image of an odd-looking, large... |
21186 | "Mitt Romney Says Rick Perry wrote a newspaper item saying he was ""open to amnesty"" for illegal immigrants in the United States." | Romney’s claim leaves the incorrect misimpression Perry is lately open to amnesty, while Perry has said he's against amnesty for years. Featured Fact-check | mixture | Immigration, Texas, Mitt Romney, | "Assailed by Texas Gov. Rick Perry about undocumented workers who used to mow his lawn, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney shot back: ""You wrote an op-ed (opinion piece) in the newspaper saying you were open to amnesty"" for illegal immigrants. That moment at the Oct. 18, 2011, CNN Republican presidential debate ma... |
128 | In new headache, WeWork says it found cancer-causing chemical in its phone booths. | Cash-strapped WeWork, the office-sharing company that is trying to negotiate a financial lifeline, has a new problem that may prove costly. It has closed about 2,300 phone booths at some of its 223 sites in the United States and Canada after it says it discovered elevated levels of formaldehyde. | true | Health News | The company, which abandoned plans for an initial public offering last month after investors questioned its mounting losses and the way it was being run, said in an email to its tenants on Monday that the chemical could pose a cancer-risk if there is long-term exposure. After a tenant complained of odor and eye irritat... |
34623 | "Congressman Ryan Zinke is offering an ""ISIS Hunting Tag"" to people who donate to his campaign." | Chinese health authorities are trying to identify what is causing an outbreak of pneumonia in the central city of Wuhan, officials said on Friday, as the tally of cases rose to 44 and Singapore said it would screen arrivals on flights from there. | unproven | Uncategorized, ISIS | Authorities this week said they were investigating 27 cases of infection after rumors on social media suggested the outbreak could be linked to Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS). The World Health Organization said it was aware of the reports, is monitoring the situation and is in contact with the Chinese governm... |
14891 | While Americans pray for Paris, the government has acted on mandatory national vaccinations. | A meme making the rounds on social media takes a different tack on the Paris terrorist attacks. It claims the tragedy has been a distraction to government efforts to mandate vaccinations for all public schoolchildren. There is a proposal for a similar law, but there has been no movement on the proposal since a week aft... | false | Georgia, Congress, Public Health, Terrorism, Viral image, | "Shots for everyone! Now that’s the kind of sentiment PolitiFact Georgia could get behind. Then we opened the email with that subject line and saw our alert reader meant vaccinations, not Fireball. The question was about a meme that appeared on Facebook and other social media sites in the wake of the terrorist attack i... |
35513 | "A picture shows a 1918 advertisement touting the benefits of the Bell Telephone for maintaining relationships while people were under quarantine during the ""Spanish flu."" " | "What's true: A 1900s advertisement from the New York Telephone Company touted the Bell Telephone as a way to maintain social relationships with people who were in quarantine due to illness. What's false: However, this advertisement predates the so-called ""Spanish Flu"" (1918) by roughly eight years." | mixture | Media Matters, COVID-19 | In May 2020, as much of the United States was dealing with the COVID-19 coronavirus disease pandemic by self-quarantining, an image started circulating on social media. It supposedly shows an advertisement from the New York Telephone Company that touted the Bell Telephone as a way to maintain relationships with people ... |
28580 | Scientists have found a drug that regenerates teeth, and it could leave dentists without work. | What's true: An experimental procedure combining a drug previously investigated in Alzheimer's clinical trials and a biodegradable sponge has shown promise in its ability to stimulate dentin growth. What's false: So far, this procedure has only been tested on mice, and it is unlikely to make dentistry an obsolete profe... | mixture | Medical, dentin, dentistry, enamel | On 9 January 2017, a team of scientists published the results of an experimental treatment for dental cavities in the journal Scientific Reports: Here we describe a novel, biological approach to dentine restoration that stimulates the natural formation of reparative dentine via the mobilisation of resident stem cells i... |
34158 | A San Francisco mural portrait of Greta Thunberg used 700 gallons of spray paint. | Scott told Snopes that One Atmosphere had also sought to neutralize any effects caused by the Thunberg mural through the use of carbon offsets. He wrote: “We purchased carbon offsets that will cover far more than the small footprint left by the limited number of spray cans used on our project.” | false | Science | In November 2019, we received multiple inquiries from readers about widely shared social media posts claiming irony or hypocrisy at work in the production of a massive San Francisco mural in honor of the young climate activist Greta Thunberg. On Nov. 8, the right-leaning social media activist Brandon Straka tweeted a l... |
8061 | Detroit mayor sounds statewide alarm as coronavirus cases surge. | A surge in coronavirus cases in Detroit has put Michigan on track to be one of the U.S. states hardest hit by the pandemic, the city’s mayor said on Thursday, adding that hospitals were scrambling to increase capacity. | true | Health News | As the U.S. death toll from the virus passed 1,000 people, hospitals and government authorities in New York, New Orleans and other hot spots have grappled with a rush of cases and a shortage of supplies, staff and sick beds. In Detroit, which had no cases about two weeks ago, the number had grown to 868 confirmed cases... |
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